Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

slate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 559 posts

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#201

Post by [deleted] »

Freak_NL wrote: post #161
rkangel wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is indefensible to bring people back to work in any workplace where mask wearing is needed at your desk. If you're admitting in that way that there is a risk in being in the office then you shouldn't be requiring them to be there!

Wow no indeed. I would be looking for a new job. Masks are a measure for times when no other option is available, not a standard check mark for every employee. From which management level upward do these rules not apply? It probably coincides with having your own private office…

[deleted]

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#202

Post by randac »

thawaya3113 wrote: post #50

> all the benefits of working from home (no commute, more focus, hanging out with the dog, whatever it may be) More focus…hanging out with the dog… These things literally contradict each other. The fact that someone can type this out and not even realize that just goes to show why everyone is convinced they have become so much more productive WFH, when companies dhar actually track their employees and their productiv…

> Facebook, Google, etc would not be calling people back to the office which only serves to increase their costs, if they didn’t have the data to back it up

"They must have the data" is a very popular way to appeal to authority lately.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#203

Post by chaircher »

null_object wrote: post #36

I don't understand the headline. What's the 'worst part of working from home' in this context? In my case, my employer isn't forcing anyone to come back to the office, but there's definitely an unspoken understanding that 'collaboration' and 'team feeling' will improve if we're at the office more often. But when I go to the office it perfectly reflects the experiences described in the article: I'm almost always the o…

This is really interesting - I wonder how much the set-up of someone's compensation package correlates with how much someone is willing to go back to the office. Mine's almost exclusively performance based and so I tend to want to work from home. The people going into work getting antsy about other people not being there are people who treat work more like a hobby or have a more basic pay structure. I actually prefer being in the office but we're in a sort of death spiral of the place having turned into a social hub and me feeling like I'm being left to babysit people at my own expense.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#204

Post by coding_unit_1 »

hdjjhhvvhga wrote: post #22
rspeele wrote: post #6

I actually kind of like when I go into the office and nobody is there. It's the least distracting possible work environment.

I like that, too. The problem is, those who are left enjoy catching up. That is fine in general but I noticed I'm much less productive in the office than at home because I need to listen to small talk whenever I go to the kitchen or just pass my coworkers. I'm not an introvert and I enjoy talking to people in general, but when I'm at work, I have a certain amount of things to do and I really want to complete them all…

People see this as a waste, but that is how team relationships are formed. Jeff from accounts may be eating up time today talking about Batman, but 3 months down the line you'll be ringing him up saying "hey buddy, I need a favour on those TPS reports" and he'll oblige because you've formed a bond. It's human nature.

I found WFH was great when we all left the office en masse and had already got a close-knit team. Changing jobs during the pandemic and trying to build new relationships remotely was really, really hard because that human-level interaction wasn't there.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#205

Post by rockyj »

ajdegol wrote: post #79
fcatalan wrote: post #70

"Emergency" WFH at my workplace have been slashed, everyone back in full since the start of the month. No reason publically given, been privately told "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up". I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown, so now I al…

This guy goes into a bar in Mexico and there’s a dog lying in the corner, every so often the dog whimpers and whines a little. The guy asks the barman “what’s up with that dog?” And the barman said “oh, he’s probably lying on a nail.” After a few more minutes and another set of whines, the guy asks the barman “so why doesn’t he move?” And the barman says “it probably doesn’t hurt enough for him to get up.”

It is not so easy. Changing jobs cannot be always the answer. In Europe there are not many "remote friendly" companies and also it's not that you will get a 20% pay rise every time you switch. On top, it is extremely hard to find software development jobs that pay around or above 100K. Most jobs are around 60-80K.

A job change can also mean - inheriting someone else's problematic code base, new office politics and colleagues who may not get along with you. Hardly 0-5% of pay rise really does not justify all this. All in all, one cannot switch jobs easily when the options and benefits of switching are not so good.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#206

Post by akavel »

fcatalan wrote: post #98
rosmax_1337 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown It's a business not a skate park, tell your CEO that you appreciate the positive feedback but that if he really means what he is saying: he should put his money where his mouth is and give you a sizable raise or a considerable bonus.

Oh I also have stories about this... maybe for another thread. I should really just leave, but I know I won't

You can just start looking at offers and applying to them "purely as a hobby". What do you have to lose? What do you fear could happen if you got a new job? And why do you fear it? (After answering, try repeating the last question a few times to go deeper.) The answer to those questions could help you understand why the current job maybe is important to you, or alternatively that your fear is not really something you want to be afraid of, and thus can go and start the adventure of applying!

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#207

Post by acdha »

fcatalan wrote: post #95
xenocratus wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up How is it not easier to fire those individuals? And not now, when you can just bring them to the office and have them be productive from day one (unlike new hires who would replace them), but one year ago.

Welcome to government jobs, where it's way easier to squeeze those who do the work than fire those that won't.

It’s not hard to fire people for non-performance. You have to document it and give them time to improve (or find something clear it - thinking of a guy whose timesheet included leaving early for happy hour, who was out pronto) but it’s mostly a question of whether the managers feel like they can back up their claims.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#208

Post by 7952 »

matwood wrote: post #151
fcatalan wrote: post #70

"Emergency" WFH at my workplace have been slashed, everyone back in full since the start of the month. No reason publically given, been privately told "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up". I have emails from the CEO personally thanking me for my commitment in going way over what was expected when basically saving the institution during lockdown, so now I al…

> "not about people like you, but some others have taken a 2 year vacation so management is fed up" Then it's time to let people go. Early on in COVID leeway definitely needed to be given with daycares closed, people transitioning to WFH, etc... But at this point, if someone can't get their work done remotely, then they should find a non-remote job. We went fully remote prior to the pandemic, and I remember someone i…

In my company managers were just given a free pass on difficulty with WFH managment. It was never treated as a "performance issue" by the corporate system. People are still measured the the world that existed 10 years ago. What is particularly galling is that they are now promoting agile hot desk offices as being exciting and new.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#209

Post by is_true »

gonzo41 wrote: post #132
fcatalan wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to government jobs, where it's way easier to squeeze those who do the work than fire those that won't.

It's actually pretty easy to fire people in government jobs. The problem is its uncomfortable to have hard conversations. Most government jobs are so far away form service delivery that they are very abstract. This makes the impact of lazy people seem insignificant. However, if you look at government with more of a service delivery focus, think FEMA. You wouldn't see many people who just laze about because the work i…

Not all government are the same. Where I live is almost imposible to get fired from a government job.

Re: The worst part of working from home is now haunting reopened offices

#210

Post by prepend »

gonzo41 wrote: post #132
fcatalan wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to government jobs, where it's way easier to squeeze those who do the work than fire those that won't.

It's actually pretty easy to fire people in government jobs. The problem is its uncomfortable to have hard conversations. Most government jobs are so far away form service delivery that they are very abstract. This makes the impact of lazy people seem insignificant. However, if you look at government with more of a service delivery focus, think FEMA. You wouldn't see many people who just laze about because the work i…

> It's actually pretty easy to fire people in government jobs

I suppose it depends on the government, but my experience is that it’s extremely difficult to fire people. I spoke with HR at a US federal organization that said their termination rate is .1% of employees and half of those are during the 1-year probation period.

That’s extremely low and I think an indicator of how hard it is to fire people in government.

I do have people say funny things like “It’s easy to fire people, you just fill out this paperwork and spend 20% of your time tracking a performance plan for two years.” Even though theyve never successfully fired anyone. While pointing to their group’s lack of firing as an example of their great management.

I think this is an example where theoretically it is possible, but practically it is very difficult. As evidenced by very few being fired.

Post reply on HN